Building work on Boralex and Q-Cells’ 4.5MW solar park in southern France is set to commence after the firms finalised financing and planning for the €14.6-million venture. The turnkey agreement will see Q-Cells take charge of the engineering, construction and maintenance of the Avignonet-Lauragais facility, which is scheduled to be completed in May.
“After studying the solar segment in France, Boralex is confident that this project is our best way to gain a foothold in solar-powered electricity production,” said Patrick Lemaire, president and CEO of Boralex. “Going forward, Boralex plans to grow in this segment, particularly in France.”
When completed, the park, which has a 20-year energy supply contract with Électricité de France and is located next to the Avignonet-Lauragais wind farm, will be the first joint solar and wind energy project in France. Around 85% of the investment for the facility came from Landesbank Baden-Württemberg.
“We are very pleased with this joint project with Boralex. All the technical staff in our office in Lyons worked on this project, which had very specific characteristics, mainly because the site is very windy,” said Daniel Cintolesi, general director of Q-Cells France.
